


not everyone can pull off a sweater vest

by xslytherclawx



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Muggle, Established Relationship, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Married Couple, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-16 10:41:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29452473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xslytherclawx/pseuds/xslytherclawx
Summary: To say that Anthony Goldstein is madly in love would be an understatement.He wants nothing more than to do something romantic for Neville for their first Valentine’s Day as husbands.
Relationships: Anthony Goldstein/Neville Longbottom
Comments: 6
Kudos: 5





	not everyone can pull off a sweater vest

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [not one for being let down](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23291116) by [xslytherclawx](https://archiveofourown.org/users/xslytherclawx/pseuds/xslytherclawx). 



> where would I be without posting something ridiculously fluffy on Valentine's Day?
> 
> This is actually set during [chapter 14 of not one for being let down](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23291116/chapters/58738279#workskin) (which I will get back to!). I've been planning on finishing and posting this for Valentine's Day since I wrote that chapter, and here we are!

To say that Anthony Goldstein is madly in love would be an understatement. 

He’s been madly in love for nine years now, really, and while he isn’t about to pretend that it’s been all smooth sailing, or that things are never mundane, he wouldn’t trade his life now for anything.

After all, he’s married now. Actually, properly married. To the love of his life. (He is  _ quite _ certain that Neville is the love of his life; he can’t fathom it being anyone else).

Sure, he’s always secretly held the romantic idea that, like his parents, he’d meet his soulmate at uni, and everything would just fit together just  _ so. _ The reality isn’t far off from that, really, though he still gets the idea that Neville’s grandmother would rather Neville be with a woman (and, though Neville would never admit to it, a  _ gentile, _ at that).

He met Neville in a biology tutorial in their first semester of uni, and for Anthony, at least, it was love at first sight. Neville says, now, that he felt the same way. Anthony believes him, though part of him wishes he knew this then. He would have made a move much sooner if he knew how Neville felt.

He shouldn’t complain. It worked out. All it took was some meddling by some of their friends (all right…  _ all _ of their friends, from Ernie to Terry to Seamus to Astoria), and they’ve been together ever since.

Really, Anthony thinks he’s the luckiest man alive. 

He loves his job, he loves his city, and most importantly, he loves his husband.

They’ve been married for nearly a year, and some mornings he still wakes up unable to believe that he is really lucky enough to be Neville Longbottom’s husband. The ketubah in their sitting room, detailing their marriage in plain English (as  _ Neville _ is a bit of a headache to try to translate into Hebrew, and it isn’t as if gay, interfaith marriages fit the standard Aramaic, anyway), is all the proof he needs, more than the matching rings on their hands, but still.

He knows he and Neville are on the same page; they’ve gotten married, and they bought this house together (with, admittedly, some help from both of their parents) before that, and one day they’re going to adopt (not yet, though; Anthony’s only just turned twenty-eight, and Neville’s a few months younger).

He doesn’t need to make a big show of it. He knows that. Neville doesn’t expect grand gestures, dramatic declarations, or anything like that. And Neville loves his job just as much as Anthony loves his own, so there’ll be no skiving off work for a romantic getaway or even a day on the town (much less when it’s quite possibly one of Neville’s students would see them and recognise them).

But Neville does expect  _ something. _ Anthony, for his part, wants nothing more than to do something romantic for Neville for their first Valentine’s Day as husbands. He’s already got the dinner reservations lined up at their favourite restaurant, some champagne and chocolate-covered strawberries in the fridge for tonight… he knows he doesn’t truly  _ need _ to do more.

But he  _ wants _ to.

A few weeks ahead of time (he knows how demand for these things gets) he orders a bouquet of red roses, a small potted woolly rose (actual name:  _ Echeveria ‘Doris Taylor’, _ a name he knows solely because of his husband’s passion for plants) which will do well in Neville’s mostly-shady (and, in London, perpetually-overcast) classroom, as well as a box of chocolate truffles to Neville’s classroom.

Some people might get annoyed or embarrassed by a delivery midday. Anthony himself can’t guarantee that he’ll be able to step away if Neville sends him anything (though he’ll be eternally grateful if he does), but he’s sent things to Neville at work before. If the delivery person doesn’t bring it straight to his classroom, then some admin or another will.

Neville has been absolutely delighted each time.

He tells his students about them, he says, and Anthony thinks that’s quite a big difference between their careers. Anthony isn’t a surgeon. He works in an office with the same staff he sees every day. His job isn’t the stressful stuff of television programmes. It’s routine, maybe a bit boring. 

Everyone he works with knows he’s married (several of his coworkers were at the wedding), but he doesn’t often mention his husband to his patients. It’s not relevant (and, loath as he is to admit it, he suspects some of his patients would prefer not to know that their doctor is happily married to another man). Even if he does mention Neville, it’s one-on-one, and he doesn’t see the same patients every day.

Neville can say that he met his husband in a biology tutorial in uni. Neville can throw in a mention about his husband’s biology GCSE being a step (one of many) to becoming a doctor (no matter how much Neville loves his job, or how much his students like him, teenagers tend to be more impressed by the idea that their coursework might one day enable them to become doctors rather than teachers). Neville can say offhand that he got married over hols. Neville can say that he and his husband are going on a weekend trip. And his students, who see him every day, can draw whatever conclusions they will.

Anthony’s met several of them when he’s gone to visit Neville for lunch, and they all knew who he was immediately. It was impossible not to notice how Neville seemed to inflate with a sense of pride.

Anthony loves him  _ so much. _

Valentine’s Day, really, is a convenient excuse to be as disgustingly sappy as he always wants to be.

* * *

He gets a call from Neville just before noon. 

“I’ve just got your gift,” Neville says.

“What, the flowers?”

“And succulent and chocolates – which I think I’ve managed to hide from my students. I’ve just stepped out of the classroom to thank you.”

“You’re welcome, of course, but that’s not your gift.”

“It’s not?”

“No. You’ll get your gift tonight,” Anthony says. “That’s just a treat.”

Anthony knows his husband – he knows right now, Neville is blushing in the corridor at school. “Then I’m looking forward to tonight even more.”

“I can’t wait.”

“Neither can I. I’ve got to go back, now, but – I just wanted to phone you. And thank you. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

He’s barely hung up the phone when Marietta, the receptionist, lets him know that he’s just gotten a delivery.

A dozen red roses, a box of chocolates, and a card so raunchy that Anthony actually blushes in reception and shoves it into his pocket to avoid the awkward chance of someone catching a glimpse over his shoulder. 

He can’t wait for tonight, but first… he takes a picture of the bouquet and chocolates for posterity.

And to send to Neville with the message “i love you so much p.s. that card better not be an empty threat.”

He gets a reply a few minutes later.

> **Neville:** don’t worry
> 
> **Neville:** it’s not 😋🍩🥴💞

He loves him so much he could burst.

* * *

Neville is, of course, waiting for him when he gets home. He’s working on lesson plans in the sitting room.

Most people, Anthony knows, would not be so incredibly turned on by seeing their spouse in what Neville is wearing: a maroon sweater vest over a plaid shirt. He’s sure there was, at one point, a tie which Neville’s since taken off, probably a blazer, too.

Those people would be wrong.

Anthony kisses him as he passes by. “Happy Valentine’s Day.”

Neville smiles at him. “Happy Valentine’s Day. How was your day?”

“Work was good. Same as ever. But I’m really  _ much _ more interested in those promises you made in your Valentine’s Day card…”

Neville’s smile turns into a grin. He checks his watch. “Well, if you hurry up and shower, we might have time  _ before _ dinner.”

Anthony might just set a record for fastest time upstairs.

It’s not as if this is the first time Neville has ever offered to eat him out, nor the first time that Anthony’s accepted, but it’s not an every night sort of thing. 

Their sex life is, for the most part, rather vanilla. Neither of them are unhappy with this, of course (they’ve discussed it quite a lot, really, especially whenever one of their friends gets in a new relationship or tries out something different), but for a special occasion, sometimes it’s nice to do something a bit out of the norm.

* * *

Dinner is lovely. Not that either of them expect any different. They share sides and split dessert. 

The thing about Neville is that he’s never more adorable than when he’s talking about something he’s passionate about. Anthony supposes most people would say the same about the people they love, but with Neville, it’s all the more true.

So while talking about work might not be “typical” Valentine’s Day date-worthy discussion, Anthony listens raptly as Neville tells him about his day, about his current lesson plan, about how his students reacted to the flowers and succulent and chocolates.

“Maybe I’ll skip the chocolates next year,” Anthony teases.

Neville gives him a mock glare. “Don’t you dare.” He reaches for his hand and laces their fingers together. “You know, I know we’ve been together for forever, but… sometimes I still can’t believe how lucky I am to have you.”

“It’s nowhere near as lucky as I am to have you,” Anthony says. Sure, he might be a doctor, but he doesn’t know where he’d be without his husband.

“Flatterer,” Neville says with a grin.

“I only speak the truth. I knew from the moment I saw you in that biology tutorial nine years ago that I wanted to be with you.” It’s not even an exaggeration, but even now, it makes Neville blush.

His husband can tell him he’s going to eat him out with a straight face, but when faced with the reality that Anthony’s always wanted him, he blushes.

It’s really fucking adorable.

Anthony squeezes Neville’s hand. “Trust me. I’ll prove it to you tonight.”

“Is that a promise, Tony?”

Anthony brings Neville’s hand to his lips and kisses it. Which might be overkill, but whatever. It’s fun. “Absolutely.”

**Author's Note:**

> come visit me on [tumblr](https://xslytherclawx.tumblr.com/)!
> 
> Please feel free to join my Harry Potter [discord server](https://discord.gg/yb6bS3c)!


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